Checkerboard blanket & Grecian Rib Scarf

Now all the beauty posts are done, I can finally post about the knitting I completed. I like to jump between projects depending on my mood, so it takes me a while to finish something. Well, I finally finished two of them! 

Teddy is showcasing the checkerboard blanket

The blanket uses Purlbee's Checkerboard Lace Scarf pattern. Yes you read that correctly, it's a scarf pattern. Thankfully Purlbee is nice enough to say the pattern is multiples of 10 + 8. So I just did as much stitches as I can fit on my needle and worked it out to multiples of 10 + 8. Since I did that, I actually have no idea how many stitches the blanket has. I think it's somewhere 200. 

I used 3 balls of Bernat Satin in Banana and 3 balls in Bernat Satin in silk. I originally picked up 3 balls of the Banana thinking it was enough. However, it was not and when I tried to get more, they already took it off the shelves. So I thought Satin would fit with the yellow. The needles I used was 4.00mm. I only chose it as it was the skinniest and longest knitting needles I had laying around. 

Right Side

I kept on going and stopping on the blanket, which was not a great idea. Due to the pattern, where the diamond increases then decreases. I need to know where I was previously to not mess up. I had to take it out so many times that I decided to knit even just a little bit every day. Just so I remember where I left off. Since I started to knit every day, I started to learn the pattern and could recognize where I left off. That saved me a lot of time. 

I initially had a lot of problem with a certain row of stitches, where i would always had extra stitches at the end of the row. I can't remember exactly which row it is, but it was discouraging me from continuing. But I learned that by add and dropping stitches at the end somehow fixed it. Somehow I didn't expand the stitches so I think I must have dropped or added a stitch in a row. That shifted the stitches for a single row but you can't really tell. :P 

Wrong Side

I completed this blanket primarily because I was supposed to move at the end of 2014 and I didn't want to bring balls of yarn with me. So I set myself a goal to finish the blanket before the end of the year. I made it! The ending product is pretty good but I know there are quite a bit of mistakes all around. Shhhhhhhh... Don't tell anyone.

Teddy is sporting the Grecian Rib Scarf

The second project I completed is the Grecian Rib Scarf from Purlbee. Can you tell I really like Purlbee yet? 

I bought three balls of gray glittery yarn from a yarn store when I went there with a coworker. I threw away the label so I have no idea what brand it is. Though it was quite expensive. It was $15 for 100g. Yikes. This is one expensive scarf. I ended up having to buy another ball to extend it. Which did not work as I probably needed a 5th ball.  I used a circular needle so I have no idea what the needle size is. I think it is 4.5mm. 

Right Side 

The pattern gradually increases from 5 stitches to 48 stitches. Once the 48 stitches are reached, the same width is supposed to be kept for 62 inches before decreasing. I don't think I got it up to 62 inches. I just had it enough to wrap around my neck twice. In the end, I didn't have enough yarn left to finish the scarf completely. Instead I finished it at about 10 stitches left. Yah.. Not great but you cant' really tell anyways. 

Wrong Side 

I also had to redo the scarf a few times. I kept on forgetting which row I am on so I would do the same row twice. After I finish a big  chunk I would take a look and realize, crap! I screwed up! So that needed a lot time. Oh well. The scarf turned out well. 

I am happy that I reached the goal I set for my self. I have set a new goal for myself in 2015. Will do a post about it!